TO THE EDITOR:
In Corinthians 11:21-29 St. Paul says “For this is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it , and said, ‘this is my body, which is for you; do this in a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ Until the Lord comes, therefore every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death, and so anyone who eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily, will be behaving unworthily towards the body and blood of the Lord.
Everyone is to recollect himself before eating this bread and drinking this cup; because a person who eats and drinks without recognizing the Body is eating and drinking his own condemnation.”
At the beginning of Mass we all have the opportunity to recollect the various sins that most of us commit as human beings. However, serious sin REQUIRES confession and a true desire to turn away from that sin since approaching the altar with serious sin is eating and drinking one’s own condemnation. No one, not even a politician, is turned away from confession. My guess is that Father Bucci takes his job to instruct his flock for the salvation of their souls seriously, and when he refuses someone Communion, it is for the sole purpose of bringing that soul back to the grace and mercy of God: confession and reconciliation first, then Communion.
Judy Costa, Providence
